Fallen
by breaksforbirds
Summary: The voices all blend together into a cacophony of sounds, and Neville closes his eyes and wonders why he's not already dead.


**Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 8:**

Theme: Dystopian AU

Position: Seeker for the Holyhead Harpies

Prompt: What (if anything) does the Order of the Phoenix do in response to Voldemort rising to power?

Word Count (Pages): 1,036

* * *

 **Fallen**

They've fallen.

"It's not your fault, Neville."

Blood is pounding in his ears. They've _fallen._

"Neville, mate, breathe!"

They've fallen, they've fallen, they've fallen. . . .

"You did everything you could—"

"Neville!"

"Come on, _move._ "

"We've got to get out of here."

"Is Harry—?"

"Neville—someone get Neville—"

The voices all blend together into a cacophony of sounds, and Neville closes his eyes and wonders why he's not already dead.

* * *

He doesn't remember the next few hours, but the Order catches him up.

"You swung the Sword of Gryffindor," Bill Weasley tells Neville. They're gathered in the pitch-black basement of the Hog's Head, sipping butterbeer and firewhiskey laced with pepper-up potion. Aberforth's footsteps sound overhead, pacing back and forth while he murmurs indistinguishable words to the portrait of his sister. "You were aiming for the snake. But—"

"I missed." Neville closes his eyes. "I remember that part."

Hermione slips her hand into Neville's. "You were so brave, Neville. You belong in Gryffindor."

"Doesn't matter how brave I was." He opens his eyes. It doesn't make a difference. "Where's Ron?"

She says nothing.

"Luna?"

"I'm here," Luna says from somewhere behind him.

"Dean? Seamus?"

"Seamus was hurt badly, last I saw him," says Cho Chang. "When the Room of Requirement collapsed."

Neville drops his face into his hands. "I don't remember that part."

"We retreated after Harry—after he dueled with Voldemort." Hermione's voice is shaky. "We were going to regroup. But You-Know-Who knew how to get in."

Neville swears loudly and lets his fist shoot out to hit the stone wall.

"We still aren't sure who's going to make it," Hermione says. "McGonagall's all right. She's still fighting."

"Flitwick's dead," says a voice that sounds like Arthur Weasley's. "Slughorn fled. Nobody's seen Trelawney, but the old bat always seems to make it out of trouble at the last second."

"Harry?"

Nobody says anything.

"Is he dead?" Neville has both hands clenched in fists. "I saw him fall."

Nothing.

"Someone tell me!"

"Yes," Hermione says. Neville hears the tears in her voice. "He had to duel Voldemort too soon. The snake was still alive."

Neville swears again. The darkness is closing in on him. "Will someone turn on a bloody light in here?"

Nobody says anything.

". . . might as well kill myself now, before the Death Eaters have a chance to come for me," Aberforth's distant voice says from above.

"Neville," says Cho. "We aren't exactly sure how to tell you this."

"Tell me what?"

"When you missed the snake, it got rather angry, and it, erm, it sort of attacked you, a bit." Cho sounds nervous. "Don't you remember?"

"No."

"Well, it sort of . . . it got your eyes."

He feels his heart pounding. "It blinded me?"

"Hermione tried to reverse it," Luna says. Her voice is much closer now, and he feels her hand on his shoulder. "But then the Room of Requirement collapsed, and by the time we made it out of there, it was too late."

"The venom spread too quickly," Hermione says. "It's lucky I managed to save your life at all."

Neville laughs. "Lucky." He resists the urge to punch the wall again. "I'm _lucky_ to live in a world where Voldemort bloody won."

"He hadn't won," says Arthur Weasley. "He will never win. Not as long as there are those who will stand against him."

Neville hears someone crying quietly on his right. "Who's here?" he asks. "Who made it out?"

"Arthur, Hermione, Cho, Luna, Parvati, Fleur, George, Aberforth, and me. Erm, I'm Bill, if you can't recognize the voice."

Neville's heart sank. "That's all?"

"A lot of people are still fighting," Arthur said. "Molly and Ginny are there. Minerva. Kingsley. Charlie."

"A load of Gryffindors," says Cho. "Some Hufflepuffs. A few Ravenclaws."

"Ron?" Neville asks.

Silence for a moment. "He was in the Room of Requirement," says Bill. "We aren't sure—the tunnel's blocked, so we haven't been able to go back and check for survivors."

Neville hears a quiet sob from Hermione.

". . . the Order has fallen," Aberforth says from over their heads.

"No," Neville says. "The Order has _not_ fallen."

"But without Harry—"

"It's not the Order of Harry Potter." There is anger churning in Neville's chest. "It's the Order of the Phoenix. We rise from the ashes. Like Arthur said. As long as there is one bloody person who will stand back up, we will never fall."

He gets to his feet, bracing his hand on Hermione's shoulder for support, and promptly smacks his head on something hard.

"Careful," says Cho. "The ceiling's rather low."

Neville presses his hand to the top of his smarting skull and rubs vigorously. "I'm seeing stars," he says as he sits back down.

"Better than seeing nothing," says Luna.

" _Luna!_ " Neville hears Hermione hiss. "Don't joke about this!"

"No, it's fine." To Neville's surprise, his mouth curves into a smile. "Voldemort won. Harry's gone. Times are pretty bleak. I'll take a laugh wherever I can get one. Thanks, Luna."

The overhead trap door opens with a creak. "More survivors," says Aberforth's voice, followed by a flurry of footsteps.

"Ron!" Neville feels Hermione launch herself toward the people filing down the steps.

"Careful, Hermione," says Dean's voice. "He's hurt his leg. Oi—you're snogging him! Since when are you two snogging?"

"Who else is here?" Neville asks.

"Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Oliver Wood, Seamus, Hannah Abbott, and me," says a voice Neville thinks belongs to Ginny.

"Molly?" asks Arthur. "Charlie?"

"Not with us," says Dean. "But a lot of people are still fighting."

"Mum's alive," Ginny says. "She killed Bellatrix. And Charlie called in backup from Romania. There are dragons all over the grounds."

"Casualties?" Neville asks.

"Hagrid," says Ginny. "McGonagall, too. And Lee Jordan."

Neville heard a muffled groan from George Weasley.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt was fighting three at once, last we saw," says a lilting voice that can only be Seamus.

"And the snake is dead, Neville." Ginny's voice comes from right beside his ear. "I grabbed the Sword of Gryffindor when you dropped it, and I killed it."

A surge races through Neville. "Then there's hope."

"There's hope. The Order is going to keep fighting. Nothing has changed." Ginny takes Neville's hand. "We're going to _win._ For Harry."

"For Harry."

He knows it's impossible, but Neville swears he can see Ginny smiling.


End file.
